So when we chose ‘Nuts’ as the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop theme for July my mind started ticking away. Baklava did occur to me, as it had for our ‘Layers‘ theme in March, but the same thing that put me off of it then – namely the enormous amount of honey that gets poured over the top – put me off this month as well.

Now I recon we’ll get plenty of macaron entries, perhaps a dacquoise or two, maybe a frangipane tart and most definitely some decadent peanut butter deliciousness. But again, almost all of those desserts require copious amounts of sugar and butter, and after a couple months of way too many indulgences my pants are decidedly tighter than this time last year – another option had to be found.

I love a good Orange & Almond cake, but that’s been done round these parts, and ever since I made the Vegan Chai Buttercream with hazelnuts I had been wanting to try my hand at a version of cashew cream. This amazing [if I do say so myself] ‘cheesecake’ was the result.

RJ, while asking me what was in the cake and giving me a suspicious sideways glance, polished off a whole slice in about a minute flat. I’m trying to resist another piece due to a rapidly approaching Sunday evening yoga class. I have a feeling this cake will not last very long in our fridge.

Whenever I make these crazy dairy free/soy free/sugar free creations and they turn out well I always think about my sister-in-law. My brother is pretty much everything-free these days and as a result, L and Ms G are subjected to his pantry and refrigerator options. Last week was L’s big 3-0, and so this Vegan Vanilla & Chocolate Cashew Cheesecake is for her. Hey L – maybe I’ll make another one when we come to visit!

Prepare crust in an 8″ [20 cm] tin with a removable base. Springform works well for this but you can also use a pie plate. Line sides of pan with baking [parchment paper]. If making Quinoa Chocolate Pie Crust, bake and let cool while you prepare the filling.

Remove pits from dates and chop roughly. Drain and rinse soaked cashews until water runs clear, they will be very soft. Blend half the soaked cashews with the lemon juice, coconut oil and dates until very smooth. Add remaining soaked cashews, vanilla, salt and almond milk or water and blend again until very, very smooth*.

Scoop out 1/3 c of the filling to stir through the cocoa powder and extra water*. Spoon vanilla filling into the prepared pie crust and smooth top with an off-set spatula. Dollop bits of the chocolate filling over top, swirl with the tip of the spatula then smooth.

Freeze for 1 hour or refrigerate for 2 hours to chill through and set. Remove sides of pan, peel baking paper off sides. Dust with cocoa powder. Run a sharp knife under warm water to cut. Serves 8-12 if you can be bothered sharing.

Store in refrigerator.

*NOTES:

I started with an immersion blender but swapped to a small food processor half way through and blended the filling in two batches. If you have a food processor go for that first. If you have a vita-mix I am very jealous.

If you just want vanilla don’t bother with the chocolate bit on top, it does add another fun layer though.

Comments

Oh I love a good cashew cream ‘cheese cake’ I made one a while back that was also a huge hit – I distinctly recall my Dad saying to my mum “why don’t you make stuff like this”… Cheeky grin on my part for the fact he loved such a healthy version of a typical cheesecake – daggers from mum for making her look bad! Mind you, my cake looked nowhere near this amazing!

As always an amazing creation JJ! I love that this is dairy free. I am going to give it a go this week (after you post your base recipe). I adore cheesecake it is my favorite dessert. I am not sure it will end up looking as gorgeous as your does but will give it a whirl. Thanks for the great recipe.

I use US standard cup measures as a rule but for this recipe you could use a coffee mug and just fill it full/half/third as required and it would work perfectly – it is that adaptable! Will keep in mind to add metric in the future. Cheers

This looks fantastic! I’m surprised the dates don’t make the filling look darker. Looks like it should be in a cafe window…and you’d never guess it was a ‘free from’ recipe. Is it gluten free too or is there gluten in the crust?

This is a wonderful creation, JJ. Your recipes always inspire me to try something different. I am intrigued by cashew cream, I have heard about it a lot lately and am definitely going to give this a shot. Thank you for sharing.

Oh wow. This looks absolutly amazing. I have quite a few friends whose kids are allergic to dairy so this looks like a perfect treat to be able to make for them. Looks absolutely perfect to adapt for Thermie too 🙂 Thankyou so much for a fantastic recipe!

Agave (or honey or coconut sugar) should be fine! Start with a Tbsp or two then add one more to taste if needed – the recipe is not overly sweet though. If you can get dates they do add another level of richness 🙂

Hi, there, looking at this recipe, I wonder if date sugar could be subbed for the soaked dates. I have a great health food store nearby that sells all kinds of sweeteners, date sugar included. Thoughts?

Hi Karen, date sugar is just dehydrated dates that are ground into small bits so theoretically they should substitute fine, although you may want to add a bit of liquid to compensate for the moisture the dates add which is missing from date sugar 🙂

[…] give it another chance as a treat for a cheesecake fan in my life. This vegan take is inspired by this recipe from 84th & 3rd. I would highly recommend using virgin coconut oil. I used refined in this […]